he's not negotiating over the debt ceiling. michael, is this more of what we're going to hear from him today? is he going to lay the groundwork for the battle ahead? >> i think so. to some degree i think what's happening is a game of chicken unfortunately. i know the financial markets hate it. and it kind of turns your stomach a little bit. but obama has said we're absolutely not negotiating over the weekend a significant event when the treasury department ruled out this kind of fantastical sounding option of minting a trillion dollar platinum coin. so they've closed yet another door, and he's essentially said, you know, i'm just not playing ball. i read that politico story today as very interesting. it could be john boehner's camp saying we can't control the far right wing. it could also be a little bit of a bluff. it may be that boehner really feels that way or maybe he wants the white house the think he feels that way and it could be, again, part of this grand game of chicken. everyone is positioning right now. that's what's